Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock, is starring in the new film "Gridiron Gang." Photographed at the Ritz- Carlton, SF.(CHRISTINA KOCI HERNANDEZ/THE CHRONICLE) Mandatory Credit For Photographer and San Francisco Chronicle/No-Sales-Mags Out less

Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock, is starring in the new film "Gridiron Gang." Photographed at the Ritz- Carlton, SF.(CHRISTINA KOCI HERNANDEZ/THE CHRONICLE) Mandatory Credit For Photographer and San Francisco ... more

Photo: Christina Koci Hernandez

Image 2 of 4

In this photo provided by Columbia Pictures, teenagers at a juvenile detention center, under the leadership of their counselor (Dwayne Johnson), gain self-esteem by playing football together in "Gridiron Gang." (AP Photo/Columbia Pictures/John Bramley) less

In this photo provided by Columbia Pictures, teenagers at a juvenile detention center, under the leadership of their counselor (Dwayne Johnson), gain self-esteem by playing football together in "Gridiron Gang." ... more

Photo: JOHN BRAMLEY

Image 3 of 4

Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock, is starring in the new film "Gridiron Gang." Photographed at the Ritz- Carlton, SF.(CHRISTINA KOCI HERNANDEZ/THE CHRONICLE) Mandatory Credit For Photographer and San Francisco Chronicle/No-Sales-Mags Out less

Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock, is starring in the new film "Gridiron Gang." Photographed at the Ritz- Carlton, SF.(CHRISTINA KOCI HERNANDEZ/THE CHRONICLE) Mandatory Credit For Photographer and San Francisco ... more

Photo: Christina Koci Hernandez

Image 4 of 4

The Rock is no more. Dwayne Johnson has fled the ring, and now he's back on familiar turf: the football field.

1 / 4

Back to Gallery

Dwayne Johnson is late, and he's extremely sorry.

Celebrities considerably less famous than the ex-wrestler have shown up a lot later to these assembly line movie promotion interviews at local hotels, and they're usually good for one "thanks for waiting" at the most.

But Johnson is trying to shed the persona of the Rock, arguably the most famous heel in wrestling history. Excessive niceties such as three separate apologies -- one for every six minutes he's tardy -- are a fact of life when you've been shouting things like "Hold that microphone up to the Rock's mouth, before the Rock slaps the taste out of your mouth!" in sold-out arenas for eight years.

Blue Ivy Had an All-Out Bidding War With Tyler Perry at AuctionWibbitz

Iggy Azalea Opens Up About Burning al of Nick Young's ClothesWibbitz

"Gridiron Gang" should be a defining movie for the Bay Area native -- and not just because he seems to have more lines in this feature film than in the seven that came before it. The starring role is the first in which he doesn't act anything like his wrestling personality.

"When I first started acting, my goal was to become a really good versatile actor. But five years ago, I certainly was not getting the kind of material that allowed me to do that," Johnson says, relaxing on a couch at the San Francisco Ritz Carlton near the end of a day full of press interviews. "I knew I had to just be really choosy about my roles with the material that I was given."

"Gridiron Gang" casts Johnson as Sean Porter, a real-life juvenile probation officer who set up a detention center football team in the 1990s and competed against high schools in the San Fernando Valley. Porter was the subject of the televised documentary "Gridiron Gang" in 1993, and a script for the feature film has been bouncing around Hollywood for more than a decade, connected at different points to Bruce Willis and Nicolas Cage.

Producer Neal Moritz gave Johnson a script and a copy of the film early last year, telling Johnson that he should play Porter.

"He said, 'All I ask is that you watch this documentary before you read the script,' " Johnson remembers. "I laughed, I cried, I cheered. I was moved. I woke up my agent at 2 in the morning and told him 'I'd love to do this script.' "

The movie is closer to "Stand and Deliver" than "The Longest Yard," featuring several motivation speeches by Johnson, a dying mother and very little violence for Johnson's character -- even though the kids get involved with fistfights and gunplay.

Johnson does get to be a football player again. He put on pads and a helmet for a scene where he confronts his team's star running back, a wayward gang member with a lot of talent but no confidence.

"For me, personally, selfishly, it was great," Johnson says. "The last time I put on pads was 10 years ago. I got a chance to mix it up again. That was a lot of fun."

The 34-year-old was born in Hayward, but left before he was 2 and doesn't have any Bay Area memories except as a visitor.

"I don't remember anything about Hayward," says Johnson, who grew up in Hawaii and has since settled in Miami. "I just know we had my first birthday here, because we've got that on video. Not too long after that we left."

Johnson played defensive end for the University of Miami's Hurricanes as a walk-on and was on the 1991 national championship team, but his NFL hopes waned after he suffered a serious back injury. Johnson followed the career of his father, wrestling tag team great Rocky Johnson, and joined the World Wrestling Federation (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment) in 1996. Within two years, the Rock found his niche as a wildly popular anti-hero, becoming the biggest draw in professional wrestling.

Johnson's acting career started while he was still in the WWE. He played a mugger, the Scorpion King (twice) and last year starred as the gun-toting video game character Sarge in the movie version of "Doom." But mostly the roles got better after Johnson left wrestling without explanation in 2003 -- a stealthy move that still has fans wondering if he's coming back.

"I quietly got out about three years ago," Johnson says, adding that he doesn't plan to return to the ring. "I never wanted to make a big splash like, 'Here's my swan song. This is it. Big exodus.' "

Now that he's out of wrestling, it's clear that the Rock persona is all but gone. As a wrestler, Johnson rarely uttered a sentence without referring to himself in the third person at least twice. ("The Rock says don't get drunk and pass out, or else you'll wake up with the Rock's fist in your mouth ... !") Now he uses acting terms such as "craft" and got a role in the yet-to-be-released independent film "Southland Tales."

Johnson says he started getting better offers after the 2005 movie "Be Cool," a risky comic role where he played a gay bodyguard who also wants to be a thespian (his character is a horrible actor).

" 'Be Cool' was a defining movie for me," Johnson says "It was a secondary role (and) that opened up a lot of doors. ... I want to get better, grow as an actor, take a wide array of roles and ultimately still entertain the fans."

His career path is probably closest to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who went from an over-the-top boastful personality in the 1977 documentary "Pumping Iron" to simple action roles such as "Conan the Barbarian" and, ultimately, comedy roles and more complex action pictures.

Johnson said he's become friends with Schwarzenegger and spoke with the California governor by phone last week. He also took over from Schwarzenegger as the spokesman for After-School All-Stars when the governor was elected.

"He's been a friend for a long time," Johnson says. "He's one of those guys who has obviously been ultra-successful and I appreciate that he was so supportive (early in my career). He was in a position where he certainly didn't have to be, and he was a good guy."

It probably comes as no surprise then that Johnson's next movie has a distinct "Kindergarten Cop" vibe, with Johnson playing an NFL quarterback on a championship run.

"I get that little knock on the door, and it's a little 7-year-old girl who calls me daddy." Johnson says. "High jinks ensue."

Cute kid. High jinks. No wrestling. A few more movies like that, and maybe he can afford to act like a rude celebrity once in a while.